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Saw this on AOL: There were also bomb threats against two Amtrak trains traveling between New York and Miami.
A spokesman for the railroad said more than 140 passengers were taken off the northbound Palmetto at the Selma-Smithfield station in North Carolina and the train was searched. Service resumed after a delay of nearly 2 1/2 hours.
At roughly the same time, 176 passengers were evacuated from the Silver Meteor in Philadelphia. Service resumed after a 45-minute delay.
Nothing was found on either train, said Amtrak spokesman Dan Stessel.
03/30/04 16:56 ET
Rheboi Member # 2994
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Very Scary indeed!! Is our freedom in the process of being destroyed by the merchants of hate?
How can anyone fight these cowards? All I can do is say to them "Up yours" and continue with my life and put my trust in God and those in security of the country will be able to catch the cowards and put them away.
CK Member # 589
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Tonight (Wednesday) the TV show 60 Minutes II will air a segment regarding US Rail Security.
jp1822 Member # 2596
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Not a follower of 60 Minutes II - what time will this air tonight (Eastern Standard Time)?
George Harris Member # 2077
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Pray that the newshounds don't sit there dreaming up things to give the idiot bomb planters new ideas. As far as their motivations, except from a criminalistics viewpoint to locate perpertrators, Who should care? Anyone who feels this is a rational activity belongs in a top secirity institution for the criminally insane, at the very least.
dilly Member # 1427
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If you missed the 60 Minutes II piece, you'll find it here:
Long-time members of this forum may recall the mysterious "new member" who, a year or so ago, asked a lot of suspicious questions about derailing techniques.
Those of you who rabidly defended the guy's God-given "right to know" (and your God-given right to help him locate the information he asked for) should pay special attention to the first half of the CBS piece.
[This message has been edited by dilly (edited 03-31-2004).]
yummykaz Member # 475
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I was just in Penn Station 3 weeks ago arriving and departingon the Crescent. Also taking the LIR each way. I will NOT comment on the security..you can go there and see. None of the security helped me when I was accosted 3 different times: once from a man that was yelling at my 13 year old son about his Yankees Jacket, once from a gang of female beggers, and once from an old woman wearing a Hofstra shirt and St Patricks decorations ( 3 days after St Pattys!) that told me to " F off you F'n Bit_h" in front of my kids. All 3 of these events happened within 15 minutes near the Nathans in Penn. Frankly I was terrified of Penn Station. Hopefully the invisible security is working to help hold off any terrorism because they did not help me! Everyone in New York looks foreign too so it must be a tough job.
royaltrain Member # 622
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When I was in New York a few months ago, "security" did not seem particularly obvious in Penn Station, however, in Grand Central there were uniformed city police, New York state troopers plus U.S. Army--all armed to the teeth. Maybe because Grand Central Terminal is such a beautiful and truly "grand" station, the authorities don't want to see it damaged. Perhaps the dumpy Penn Station is too plebeian to care about. Most unfair, or course, given the fact that Penn Station has vastly greater passenger numbers than Grand Central, or even, so I'm told, New York's airports.
Charles Reuben Member # 2263
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When I was at Penn Station last December, the little blinker I use for flagging down buses and cabs accidentally went off in my back pack. It's actually one of those red led lights you see on the back of bicycles.
Anyway, within a few minutes I was approached by a soldier in full uniform who made me take everything out of my pack. I was sweating bullets the whole time but actually felt quite safe after that incident.
Also, before I climbed aboard the Adirondack, my passport and tickets were checked at least three times. Now that's security!
dilly Member # 1427
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quote:Originally posted by yummykaz: None of the security helped me when I was accosted 3 different times: once from a man that was yelling at my 13 year old son about his Yankees Jacket, once from a gang of female beggers, and once from an old woman wearing a Hofstra shirt and St Patricks decorations ( 3 days after St Pattys!) that told me to " F off you F'n Bit_h" in front of my kids.
Sorry to hear you found Penn Station less than hospitable. But remember, you were in New York City. And New York (as you discovered) is a different world.
None of the anti-social behavior you describe would make those of us who live here blink twice. I'm not saying that's a good thing. But crazies and panhandlers are a basic part of everyday life.
These days, every square inch of Penn Station is heavily monitored. Many New York City cops don't wear uniforms (and yes, some are even disguised as crazies and panhandlers).
If you or your kids had truly been in danger, they and/or the National Guard would have stepped in.
[This message has been edited by dilly (edited 04-01-2004).]
jp1822 Member # 2596
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I now use Penn Station daily on my commute to work - never a dull moment there - late trains, rude people, pushing, shoving, harassing. You do run into some nice and courteous people on occasion - and of course some trains are on time. As for security - I will just say that it baffles me. The whole Penn Station experience compared to Grand Central - it's like night and day.
[This message has been edited by jp1822 (edited 04-01-2004).]
NYRailFan Member # 2692
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There is security in Penn Central. Last year we arrived back from Disney World, we were approached by a National Guard officer who asked my husband what he carrying under he jacket. Its seem my husband wanted to surprise my son with a sword (plastic) that he admired in one of the parks. Now, I never noticed that my husband had anything under his jacket, but security did!
There is also a lot of Amtrak police on trains because trains carry cash. I remember a passenger started to cause problems, and our train made an emergency stop in the middle of nowhere. It was met by several sheriffs cars that took the passenger away.
This is not to say that trains and many other things are not vunerable to terrorism.
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